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Mark Dedman
Co-founder of Gaea and EssenceofGaea
Reiki, Crystals, Lama Fera, Blue Star Celestial, Spirit Release,
House Healing, Shamanic Practice
As a boy much of my spare time was spent in the woods behind my parent’s house, beside the local rivers and canals or exploring Chorleywood Common – I was fascinated by trees, by birds and by all aspects of wildlife.
For two years in my teens I worked on a local farm at weekends and during school holidays. This was before farming became so intensive and more work was done by hand. I fed chickens and cleared out their house, helped cows and sheep to give birth, looked after the newly born, turned hay by hand to help it dry, moved bales of straw with a pitch-fork, chopped mangles and fed them to the cattle, milked cows. It was wonderful – I loved being close to the land, to the people who worked the land and to the animals.
During my twenties and early thirties I still held on to my love of the land and for a while maintained a large plot which provided most of the vegetables that the family needed. I planted soft fruit and fruit trees, kept chickens for eggs and fertiliser and made compost to nourish the land. My bibles were The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency and The Self-Sufficient Gardener by John Seymour.
Slowly however the pressures of my career started to take over and finally I chose to abandon my self-sufficiency dream. The reality of corporate life had taken over.
I spent 30 years in the corporate world, specialising in IT. I earned a lot of money but received no nourishment for my soul. Throughout my corporate life I was a highly analytical person who had no knowledge let alone acceptance of spirit. I became involved in personal growth in 2000. My life was in turmoil and I really did not see a way forward. Having heard about Reiki a few times, it was when someone gave my dog healing that my interest in the subject started to take-off. Little did I know at that time just how radical a life change I was about to embark on.
I completed all four levels of Reiki training over a period of eight months and it was after my Reiki Master Teacher training that my life began to change. A year later I abandoned my career, teamed up with Keri and set up Gaea as a centre that would offer nourishment to others the way that I had been nourished.
My perception of Reiki is that it is like a hand that extends out to us when we stumble – not to lift us up but to give us support, balance and energy as we pick ourselves up. This is what Reiki did for me when my life was at a low ebb and this is the approach that I use when working with clients and teaching.
I have shared Reiki at all levels with hundreds of students. I view myself as an enabler rather than a teacher. The dynamics of each group are different and so are the requirements of the individual participants. I allow myself to be guided whilst running courses and aim to share as much knowledge and personal experience as possible in order to give students the confidence to work with Reiki when they are on their own. I also like to make students aware of how Reiki can be beneficial in all walks of life, including business.
What I share is what I believe to be true. I don’t accept everything that is said or written about Reiki or crystals and choose not to repeat aspects that I believe are incorrect or unproven. Some of these aspects are quite fundamental and maybe that makes me a rebel – I am happy to be so.
In 2001 I was lucky enough to be one of the first people in the UK to be taught Lama Fera and Blue Star Celestial, both to Master level. Subsequently I have taught these systems a number of times and also taught Crystal Healing. I have studied Vedic Healing, Magnified Healing, Egyptian Sekhem Reiki, Karuna Reiki® and Spirit Release.
Learning Reiki opened me up to Spirit. My awareness of other levels and the ability to communicate with other beings developed rapidly and constructive use of this enables me to do Spirit Release and House Healing, both of which I do with Keri.
Now in 2009 my old dreams are starting to re-surface. As Gaea evolves and our vision moves us closer to the land I am able to enjoy once again some of those things I did as a young man. We’ve got chickens which we keep for eggs and fertiliser. We have planted some fruit bushes and trees. We have started to grow vegetables. We are about to keep bees. It’s time to get out my books again – yes I still have my bibles … and my dreams!
For course bookings or further information
call Gaea at Wendover Dean - 01296 696789
